How to Find Stocks With Hidden Yields

Dividends aren't the only way companies return cash to shareholders. Accenture, Aetna, Western Union, and Raytheon all buy back shares on a regular basis, as well.

Spending by big U.S. companies on share repurchases now exceeds spending on dividends. Both represent a return of capital to shareholders, so investors looking for healthy yields should factor repurchases into the math—but only for companies that can be depended upon to spend consistent sums. A recent screen turned up Accenture(ticker: ACN), Aetna (AET), Western Union (WU), and Raytheon (RTN).

Since 1980, the dividend yield of the Standard & Poor's 500 has shrunk to 2% from almost 5%. But over the same period, spending...